A week in Provence

Today we left the beautiful fortified city of Carcassonne.  After a good breakfast at our B&B we ducked into the cathedral for a look.  It was beautiful, and the stained glass was as amazing as that of Sainte Chapelle in Paris.

Stained glass at the cathedral in Carcassonne

One of two rose windows in the cathedral, dating from the 14th century

Check-out time at the B&B was 10.  When we went back to pick up our bags and leave, the cleaning lady had already been into Tim and Linda's room, and changed the linens and the towels.  It wasn't yet 10 and their bags were still in the room, so that was a little strange.  Maybe we were still in trouble for checking in early the day before.

Our only itinerary item today was to drive from here to the town of Sablet, in Provence, and check into our next rental.  The skies were cloudy, with just a spit of rain now and then. 

We drove on the toll way (Péage) for a good part of the way.  At a truck stop again for lunch, Rick had lasagna, which he said was pretty good, and the rest of us had sandwiches made with baguettes.   Sometimes the fresh pastry selection is huge at these places.  The stop today also had a McDonald's.  I got a café crème from one of the many vending machines, and it was very good.  The cost was less than 2 euros.

We've been buying gas along the way, of course, and the cost has been between 1.35 and 1.50 euros for a liter.  That's 6 euros for an imperial gallon, which converts to about $8 for a little more than a gallon.  Our car uses diesel, and gets great gas mileage.  I wish I had more accurate stats for all you car enthusiasts out there!

As we got closer to the city of Orange, the GPS notified us of a slowdown and re-routed us through the area.  We could see the big backup on the highway and felt bad for the people stuck in it.  We were happy we weren't among them though!

The hill town of Sablet - our home for a week

The drive from Carcassonne to Sablet took a bit over 4 hours, plus a stop for lunch, and we arrived about 3.  Sablet is a small hill town near Vaison la Romaine, in the northern part of Provence.  I found a rental house there after following a blog called Our House In Provence.  The blogger, Michel, is from the Sonoma area of California and visits France 3 or 4 times a year.   Michel and his wife Shirley bought a renovated house and created their dream home in Provence, and luckily they rent it out.  They're part owners of the Bistro des Copains, a great restaurant in Occidental, California, too, so you know they're into great food!  That explains the big, well-appointed kitchen, and the list of good restaurants for miles around!

The gourmet kitchen in the Sablet House

Our terrace off of the kitchen

Michel and Shirley were back in the U.S., but they have a nice local woman who helps facilitate everything for the renters.  There was plenty of info at the house to help us with the workings of the house, and the resources in the area for food.  The added advantage to staying in a house owned by a blogger is that he writes about everything in the area.  With our little laptop computer, and the great wi-fi connection, I could access all of his blog posts over the last few years.  That helped us with some sightseeing and restaurant plans over our week here.

Our first priority was to find groceries for dinner, and food for tomorrow, since it'll be Sunday and we don't know if stores will be open.  We're in a part of France where everything closes for at least two hours in the middle of the day for lunch.  Well, except the restaurants, which stay open until 2 or so to serve lunch, but then close for a few hours before dinner.  Woe be to the hungry traveler who doesn't have the schedule figured out!

We found the boucherie, the boulangerie, and the épicerie, and stocked up on provisions.  Our little tiny village has 2 boulangeries (bakeries), 1 boucherie (butcher) and 2 épiceries (little grocery stores).  For a supermarché we need to venture closer to Vaison la Romaine, a much bigger town.  Have I mentioned that neither milk nor eggs are refrigerated in the stores here?  Well, sometimes they are, but they aren't required to be, I guess.  The milk is ultra-pasteurized, so it's fine sitting on the shelf.  I don't know what the deal is with the eggs, but we find them in the unlikeliest of places - next to the matches, for instance. 

We got settled into the house and Rick fixed a simple chicken dinner.  Linda made a great salad dressing out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little cassis flavored dijon mustard.  Plus, Linda and I always make sure to buy a little something sweet for dessert.  We haven't weighed ourselves since we left home!

Church bells ring every hour and every half hour here.  Actually, they ring the hour twice, just a minute or two apart.  Is that just to make sure everyone hears it?  The bells ended at 10, letting everyone know it was time to go to bed.

A sign at the Sablet house  - "Let the good times roll!"



The Pig in Carcassonne

We had another good breakfast at Chambres la Barde in Montfort.  Today Marie-Christine fixed crêpes, in addition to the regular breakfast fare.  I think it's funny that so many different countries claim these thin pancakes as their own.  They go by lots of names, but are essentially the same thing - crêpes, German pancakes, Swedish pancakes, and my Dutch former in-laws called them flinchees, although I can't find any reference to them by that name on the Internet.  Whatever the name, they're a favorite!

Phillipe asked where we were headed, and when we told him we were going to Carcassonne and then to Provence, he said Provence was nice and all, but really what was there but one pretty hill town after another?  The Dordogne, he said, had more to offer.  Pretty hill towns abound, but there are also caves and castles.  I agree that this area warrants more time!  We didn't visit even one cave with prehistoric paintings, and that is one of the big attractions of the area.

As we headed to Carcassonne the weather was overcast and very windy.  We went by toll road again, in the interest of time.  Do GPS systems in the U.S. ask if you want to avoid the toll roads when plotting your route?  We hadn't experienced this before, but we live in a part of the U.S. without toll roads, so what would we know about it?  Some days we elected to go the backroads, just because we wanted to see more of the local color.

All along our route from Normandy to Carcassonne we've seen fields of sunflowers, but all the flowers were drooping and the stalks were often brown.  We must have been just a bit late to see them in their glory.

We had sandwiches at a truck stop on our route, and arrived in Carcassonne about 2:30. 

Carcassonne on approach

The main gate into Carcassonne

It's a big fortified city, and parking is outside the city walls.  We decided to pack enough in our carry-on bags for our one night there and leave the big suitcases in the car.  Even with wheels our suitcases are cumbersome on the cobblestones of old villages.  Visitors are warned not to leave anything in cars in plain sight, although there were attendants at the parking area. 

We thought maybe we could drop off our bags at our B&B and walk around the city.  Check-in time was 3:00, and when we rang at the door at 2:30 we weren't exactly welcomed with open arms.  Our hostess said holding our bags would be no different than checking us in early, so she allowed us in.

We're staying at Chambres l'Echappée Belle, run by Johanna and Bruce  from Scotland.  It's listed in Rick Steves' France guide, but Tim booked it through booking.com.  One downside of using a booking service is that you have to pay in full when you book.  All of our other B&Bs were booked directly, and all but one requested only a credit card number to hold the rooms.  They required payment in cash while we were there.  We booked everything many months in advance, and if we had to change or cancel our plans (within a reasonable time frame), it would have been possible with all but the booking service reservation.

The rooms at Chambres l'Echappée Belle were very nice and the breakfast room looked out on an enclosed garden.  There are only a few places to stay inside the old city walls, so we were looking forward to our experience.

The old story about Carcassonne is that the city was under siege by Charlemagne 1,200 years ago.  The siege went on for years, and it was hoped by Charlemagne's forces that the occupants would run out of food and eventually surrender rather than starve.  They were indeed close to starving and surrendering when a very cunning resident of the town, Madame Carcas, suggested that the last pig be fed the last few bits of grain and tossed over the wall.  The troops below, thinking that the town still had plenty of food to waste if they were tossing pigs over the wall, retreated in frustration.  The town was saved, and named in honor of Madame Carcas.  Alas, this great story is thought to be just a fable, but believe what you will!

We wandered the busy and touristy streets, and worked our way up to Chateau Comtal, at the top of town.  It's been redesigned and renovated many times since it was built in 1125.  We enjoyed touring the chateau and walking the ramparts.  We had great views of the peasants below.

View from the ramparts in Carcassonne

A pretty garden inside the walls of Carcassonne

Wooden rampart enclosures at Chateau Comtal

We picked up baguettes, cheese and wine for our daily happy hour, and gathered in Tim and Linda's room.  The tablecloth I brought has been invaluable with our crusty baguettes.  No crumbs are left as evidence in our nice rooms.

We may not look too happy yet, but soon we will be!

We asked our hostess for a restaurant recommendation for dinner in the city.  She said she feels bad for the tourists, since our diet is sorely lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables, and will surely lead to scurvy for some.  I told my group that Carcassonne is known for cassoulet, and that's what I wanted to have for dinner.  Cassoulet is a classic dish made with confit of duck, sausage and beans.  Our hostess Johanna suggested Restaurant Adelaïde, which was just a short walk from the B&B.  We all had nice salads, in addition to our cassoulet, to fend off scurvy.  The cassoulet was pretty salty, so that was disappointing, but it was tasty. 

At home in Washington, whether we're making our own cassoulet or just hoping to buy some, we go to Picnic on Phinney Ridge in Seattle.  Jenny and Anson carry the supplies and also sometimes have cassoulet ready-to-eat.  Plus, it's just fun to talk to them about good food!

After dinner we walked down to the bottom of town and out through the main gate.  We took a few fun pictures, and wandered back up the deserted main street, which had been crowded with tourists and trinket shops during the day. 

Carcassonne at night